The Exiled Villainess and Her Shopping Dimension

Chapter 248

Many high-ranking nobles prepared themselves with extravagant attire, ready to welcome the delegation with a mixture of excitement and fear. They dared not neglect such meticulous attention. Who would dare dress simply and cheaply? If so, it might give the impression to the delegation from the Hu Region that they were being disrespected, possibly resulting in a death sentence being imposed on them.

Do you think the Bai Region would dare resist the Hu Region? As soon as they displeased the delegation, the only thing they would face was death. There was no need to wait for the Hu Region to administer this punishment. In their homeland, the Bai Region would handle it properly to prevent the wrath from reaching the ears of the Emperor of the Hu Region.

Yueqian was not late. After Wan Gui woke her up two hours before the event started, the servants swarmed in to dress her. Although Yueqian possessed more valuable jewelry, she did not bring them out from her personal dimensional department store. She still needed to use the items given by the Emperor, the Wang, even the Empress and other royal consorts. This was to show respect to the dignitaries and also to avoid much criticism.

For instance, if she wore jewelry that people did not recognize, they might deem it worthless, creating a controversy that could displease the Hu Region. Ultimately, it would be Yueqian who would be punished. But if Yueqian used the royal-bestowed jewelry, who would dare to accuse her? Moreover, she could simply claim she did not know the value of these pieces but considered them precious because they were royal gifts.

In this way, the death penalty that was meant for her could be deflected onto someone else.

She adorned herself with precious items, but the hair ornament she chose was a gift from Consort Jia. Of all the consorts of the Second Prince, Yueqian liked her the most in the Bai Region.

Although Consort Jia did not have a great reputation and was not very talkative. Each word she spoke was headache-inducing. However, she was very meticulous. This was evident in the hairpiece she had bestowed, which had been given not long ago and now provided a solution for Yueqian.

Normally, the head ornaments of the nobility were quite heavy. They sought out rare and valuable materials, the rarer the better, and the larger the pieces to enhance their prestige. These ornaments were also intricately decorated and combined with other jewelry to create a grand appearance.

Yueqian was originally the young miss of the Qin family. In the past, it felt like the weight on her head was crushing her body every time. But because she was the villainess, how could she wear as few pieces of jewelry as the virtuous heroine who did not cling to material things? She had to perform every act appropriately, and her attire had to surpass everyone else’s.

Thinking back, it was quite amusing. It was laughable how long it took her to finally decide to do as she pleased. Naturally, her outfit today had to be as grand as ever, yet she could choose appropriately.

Valuable items did not need to be large or ostentatious. It was enough to know which pieces were precious and which deserved attention. In the past, Yueqian played the fool, dressing up like a parrot. Miss Liu Sun, the heroine, didn’t even have to wear much like her. Just a single jade bracelet and a pearl hairpin were enough to make her worthy of the city’s praise.

Yueqian’s entire grand ensemble couldn’t even be exchanged for Liu Sun’s single jade bracelet!

The poor common people, unaware, only saw Liu Sun as a woman who was not attached to material things and did not flaunt her wealth. However, among the nobility, they did not think the same.

It was impossible for Liu Sun or anyone else to dare attend a noble banquet with worthless jewelry. Doing so would be seen as disrespectful to the host. Liu Sun had even attended tea parties with princesses. If she had truly dressed inappropriately, being flogged to death wouldn’t have been considered an excessively harsh punishment.

But the reason she survived was that everyone knew Liu Sun did not attend such events with worthless jewelry. Only the foolish Qin Yueqian and her lackey, Eldest Young Miss of the Tang family, kept insulting and criticizing Liu Sun, causing her pain.

Others found it more humorous because it was the two prominent young misses who were clueless. Moreover, not many dared to speak out. Even if they understood it was a valuable treasure, since Young Miss of the Liu family herself did not speak of it, how could they dare?

If it was not truly valuable jewelry, how would people save face? Thus, these strange and amusing situations continued on.

At that time, it wasn’t as if Yueqian was unaware of this. How could she not know the value of Liu Sun’s jewelry? This was because Liu Sun had to compete in auctions against others to obtain those pieces! Even though Liu Sun didn’t know that Yueqian knew, how could Yueqian, who sold those valuable items, not know who won the auctions?

Returning to the current situation, Yueqian felt grateful to Consort Jia. This was because she had bestowed this set of jewelry upon her. These were precious, rare, and genuinely required skill to craft. Despite this, they were very lightweight.

Yueqian, being a pregnant woman, could not avoid carrying a lot of weight regardless of how she dressed. If not for the jewelry given by Consort Jia, she would still have to ponder how to style her hair to use the fewest pieces of jewelry while still looking valuable.

Wan Gui styled Yueqian’s hair, fluffing the sides slightly to complement the cascading ornaments that hung from the hairpin above. With this moderate amount of decoration, Yueqian looked several times more beautiful than before.

Even Mu Heng felt dissatisfied with her attire this time. His wife’s figure had become fuller due to her pregnancy and the care she had taken, enhancing her beauty since then. Adding such embellishments only increased her charm, so how could he not be jealous?

Earlier, Yueqian heard that her husband had a verbal clash with the Young General. He had complained that the other came as a supplicant and coincidentally met the delegation, thus tagging along. However, the delegation, impressed by his skills, honored him by allowing him to accompany them instead of merely following.

It was clear that they had planned this in advance. The Du Region was not foolish or incompetent. They also knew that if they directly sought help as the Du Region, they would be refused. But by leveraging the reputation of the Hu Region, they gained a stronger bargaining position.

It was unexpected that the Young General would leave such an impression. Mu Heng was quite annoyed since the other dared to harass his wife in public. If it weren’t for the grand event, he wouldn’t have remained silent.

Now, Mu Heng had to consider his wife and the child she carried before acting. It was no longer appropriate to impulsively attack to vent his anger. Besides, he had grown up. Once the head of his family, he was now the leader of the city. He had encountered many situations requiring thoughtful decision-making, which had developed him further. Although he was angry, he managed to suppress it.

There was only one person Mu Heng trusted the most—his wife. This was why he showed his jealousy in front of her like this.

"You are too beautifully dressed. I don’t want anyone to see you," Mu Heng complained as they sat in the sedan chair heading to the event.

Yueqian chuckled softly. Seeing her husband’s sulky expression, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. This small gesture surprised Mu Heng. Normally, Yueqian was quite reserved and not easy to approach. It was usually him who hugged or held her waist. He never expected that she would kiss his cheek first just to reassure him.

The young man’s face turned a rosy shade of red. Seeing this, the beautiful Yueqian couldn’t help but tease him.

"Are you afraid that my beauty will make you fall in love with me even in front of everyone?" With this joke, Mu Heng felt as if he had been struck on the head. He looked at his beautiful wife, whom he hadn’t been intimate with for a long time, and had difficulty swallowing the lump in his throat.

If it weren’t for her pregnancy, he wouldn’t have felt the need to restrain himself this much! Now it seemed that his mischievous wife had become quite bold!

"Are you teasing me?" Mu Heng asked in a deep voice. Yueqian shook her head with a slight smile, touching his arm as if to comfort him. Her actions were like sending the charming fox away and leaving only a little angel soothing her husband.

"How could I dare, my dear? I just want you to relax," Yueqian said honestly. The young man straightened up again and closed his eyes.

"Even though I know you have no feelings for that Young General, his disrespectful behavior toward you still displeases me."

"Let him be. That man has some issues with his thinking. The more you engage with him, the more trouble will come. The more you pay attention to his thoughts and actions, the more headaches you’ll have," Yueqian shook her head in exasperation.

Someone like the Young General wasn’t worth acknowledging. He was competitive and obsessed with being the best. It seemed that dealing with the affairs of his own manor weren’t enough for him, so he had to bother her too. However, this was an important event, and someone concerned with reputation wouldn’t want to ruin it just to harass her and her husband. At most, he could only make annoying comments daily.

"Hmm, I think so too," Mu Heng sighed. He saw today that the other party didn’t dare to act out as much. Unlike the Young General they had encountered in the village before, who even ordered the killing of villagers, this time he was just a follower, relying on the power of others. He could act, but he had to be mindful of the Hu Region’s reactions.

If he overstepped, when he returned to the Du Region, there would likely be people waiting to take his position as a general. After all, their situation must not be very good; otherwise, they wouldn’t offer themselves to act as a decoy for the Hu Region like this.

The couple talked a bit more, and their sedan arrived at the venue for the welcome banquet for the delegation.

The event was originally supposed to be held at the Second Prince’s palace, but because he had caused a scandal and his inner palace was not properly organized, it was moved to the Wang’s manor instead. The other party became the main host for this event, which was why Mu Heng had additional responsibilities.

But this arrangement had its benefits. Since the venue was close to their own manor, the travel time was short, unlike the Second Prince’s palace, which was farther away. Additionally, they were more familiar with the location, so if anything happened, they could escape safely.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance, the soldiers, recognizing Governor Mu, an important person of the Wang, and Furen Mu, warmly escorted them inside, unlike the treatment they had received from the soldiers at the Second Prince’s palace.

Mu Heng and his wife arrived several minutes before the event started, so there weren’t many people there yet. Yueqian had to greet many people. Some told her to remain seated due to her pregnancy, but others ignored her condition, letting her continue to pay respects.

This time, men and women were not separated because it was not a tea party, birthday celebration, or general gathering. This was a welcome banquet for the delegation, a significant event where no mistakes could be made. Therefore, everyone stayed together as families. Mu Heng could look after Yueqian, and soon, the Wangs and princes arrived. They only awaited the Emperor and the delegation, who would arrive together when the event started.

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